Russ | The Lost Abbey

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Haven't reviewed in quite a while. Figured I'd reviewed enough and took a nice, long break and just enjoyed my beer. Russ was the first beer in a long while that made me go "that was totally unexpected. What a novel little bugger."

On tap at the Christmas in July party on 7/24. Served in 4 different 3 ounce pours.

Appearance: Murky, slightly stringy looking pinkish-purple brew. Almost looks like an elixir or a potion of some sort. Or beer and jam. But still, almost a pomegranate hue. Different, but only in the coolest of ways.

Smell: Strawberry-grapefruit. The jam is relatively mild in the nose, with the poking sourness and funk just peeking through. Inviting.

Taste: Literally tasted like Smucker's Strawberry preserves crossed with a lemon-y, citrus-y sour. The sourness is green, and left to funk I'm sure it would get stronger, but the strawberries probably would not taste all that great in beer after more than a few days. The freshness really novel, and after every sip, I looked down at my dwindling glass and just kept saying "damn, that's a tasty little brew"

Mouthfeel: Light sourness, strawberry leaves a lingering sweetness behind, but it's just a nice balance. Flavor isn't overly strong, and it leaves the mouthfeel somewhere between pleasant and forgettable.

Drinkability: Just such a tasty little beer. Fresh, light, flavorful, and refreshing. I wish I could've kept putting this away, but limited pours at $3 a sample put an end to that. Still, Lost Abbey really got me smiling with this little brew, and I applaud the creativity and end result. Bravo.

On tap at Stone Sour Fest. Review is from an early pour and heard that as the day went on the subsequent pours were different and not as well enjoyed.

The pour looks just like ruby red grapefruit juice in appearance with a murky, swirling, suspended pulp and a few bubbles for a head. The smell is just strawberry jam. Taste is a little sour strawberry smoothie. A faint brett and a tight throat on the finish with some citrus rind. Mouthfeel is light and bright. Overall, an outstanding breakfast beer. Well done.

Very pleased to get to try this at Stone sourfest! Thanks for putting on a great event, Bill.

Cloudy and murky doesn't do it justice. As I commented, and which others quickly picked up on, this looks like a slushee. Sediment? Nah. More like straight up murk. This beer is filled with murk. I thought it looked interesting.

Smells, and tastes, deeply of strawberries mixed with acidic oak chips and a pinpricks of sour tingly-ness. You know, I loved it. It's amazing that they managed to capture the strawberriness in a beer, as the few other strawberry brews I've had were very, very muted in terms of strawberry flavor.

A pretty remarkable brewing accomplishment, and on a hot day, really hit the spot. Could have used more carbonation. HAHAHAHA I couldn't resist.

On tap at Stone Sour Fest. This is a sour beer made with strawberries. Russ is turbid dark pinkish red with large fruit chunks. It looks like a fruit smoothie with a tiny head. The aroma is bursting with fresh strawberries. Smells like a strawberry patch. Great fruit character with a light sweetness. There's a very light tartness, a whisper of oak, and a moderate lactic quality, but the fruit is the main attraction and it displays itself well.

The flavor is almost all strawberries, with a very light tartness and a dash of oak. It tastes a bit like a strawberry smoothie. It's not super complex, but the strawberry character is huge and it's unlike any other beer I've tried. The beer finishes with a light acetic character, a light lactic character, and a strawberry zing. A delicious strawberry sour.